Zion On The Hudson: Dutch New York And New Jersey In The Age Of Revivals

Book Summary

"Fabend relates developments in the Reformed Dutch Church during the Second Great Awakening to larger themes in American social history, such as the evolution of ethnic identity, the changing roles of women, and the history of reform movements. It is serious scholarship, yet it is written in a style that is accessible to the general reader." --David Stephen Cohen, New Jersey Historical Commission "Zion on the Hudson is required reading for anyone struggling with the questions of why 'Dutchness' persisted in New York and New Jersey, and what eventually caused it to disappear. Making use of a wide array of previously untapped sources, Fabend unfolds the story of Dutch persistence in a beautifully written style." --Charles T. Gehring, Director, New Netherland Project The Dutch came to the New World in the seventeenth century as explorers and traders, but religion soon followed, for it was accepted in the Netherlands that state and church were mutually benefited by advancing the "true Christian religion." The influence of "Dutchness"--defined as loyalty to what are presumed to be the distinctive qualities of Dutch national character and culture--persisted in New York and New Jersey for more than two hundred years after Dutch emigration ended. Why? Firth Haring Fabend finds the explanation in the devotion of the Reformed Dutch Church membership to the doctrines and traditions of their religion. She looks at both the larger themes in American history and at the beliefs and behaviors of individuals in this often-neglected ethnic group. Thus, Zion on the Hudson presents both a broad and an intimate look at the way one mainstream Protestant denomination dealt with the transformative events ofthe evangelical era. As Fabend describes the efforts of the descendents of the Dutch settlers to preserve the European standards and traditions of their church while developing a taste for a new kind of theology and a preference for an American identity, she documents how Dutchness finally became a historical memory. The Americanization of the Reformed Dutch Church, Fabend writes, is a microcosm of the story of the Americanization of the United States itself. Firth Haring Fabend is the author A Dutch Family in the Middle Colonies, 1660-1800 (Rutgers University Press), winner of the New York State Historical Association Annual Book Award and the Hendricks Prize of the New Netherland Project.

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